If I look back over the past twenty years working in the industry, I can say that one of the biggest opportunities and challenges that have presented many small businesses is getting your brand message and advertising across creatively, without it costing a fortune!
Over the years, I’ve been so fortunate to work with some amazingly skilled designers who have been able to receive my vague briefs and turn them into magic. I’m sure it’s the same for many marketing professionals who can see their vision in their head but getting it from the clouds to practical execution is never as easy as you’d hope it would be.
I’m sure it’s these challenges which led to a group of talented (frustrated) graphic designers to create the wonderful new design app CANVA.
So, what is CANVA? Well, to put it simply, it’s a template based desktop publishing tool for novices and the every day person. Whether you want to design your kids next birthday party invite, create a promotional poster or even resume, CANVA can certainly let you have a bit of creative fun! And reading the story about the creators over the weekend, I would like to say, developed by some very savvy graphic designers who recognised the challenges of accessing good designers with a small business budget.
For small businesses, well, this is where I truly believe that these graphic designers have really “nailed the brief”.
I remember when I was first starting to explore the idea of The Marketing Elf and the very limited, or nil, funds that I had available. I was so lucky to have an amazing graphic designer colleague who had offered to use their artistic talents to help me develop my visual brand but that was only one small element (and a bit of quirky fun). I was chatting to another designer over coffee one day and they started to, let’s be honest, have an open whinge about how they’d lost the chance for some freelance work because the individual had started to use CANVA themselves. It could have been the early morning coffee but I swear that my ears really switched on at that point. Whilst they were telling me about all the awful things that CANVA offered to the inexperienced, graphic designer wanna be, my mind was starting to travel towards my needs, as the founder of a start up who just wants to creatively share thoughts and ideas.
Once I back in front of my computer I googled CANVA and I was hooked! I became lost in a world of design wonder.
As I continue to use CANVA for so many design needs, personally and professionally, I started to think about my initial conversation where I came to be enlightened to the tool but also the pains that this tool has caused true graphic designers. Now I do know that the tool was developed by actual designers (who definitely tailored to demand and experience must I say) but as I continue to create new and exciting birthday invites for my kids and some social posts here and there, I’ve actually started to consider the point of whether this tool is truly going to be the death of the graphic designer for small business.
As with all tools, especially free access, there are definitely limitations and I am not saying that CANVA can do everything, but, it’s adapting and developing constantly so will it truly replace graphic designers 100%.
Prior to tools like CANVA, businesses needed to rely on designers to bring their visual brand to life but now small business owners can access a lot of their simple needs within the tool. With the new climate that we are all in and the constant changes that we are all enjoying with the onset of COVID-19, CANVA has provided the ability for sole and small business operators to quickly and creatively engage with their audience, at a very low cost. Create those all important social posts, eDM elements, posters. We all know that using creativity with fonts, pictures and images helps to get messages across quickly and engage with audiences so this tool has really provided small businesses the opportunity to cut through to their audience quickly.
In saying all of the above, I feel that, like with everything in business, it’s going to come down to finding that balance. As an owner of a small business, do you truly believe that you have the capacity to do EVERYTHING yourself? I think we can confidently answer that as a no. It’s not to say that you can’t, but, sleep is something that everyone needs and if you take on too much then it’s probably the one thing that will reduce as you try to find more hours in the day.
If you are a small business owner and you want to have access to be able to do some simple things yourself to help with cashflow, definitely jump on the CANVA bandwagon. I don’t think you will regret it, however, I caution you to remember the true value of using a graphic designer. When it comes to high impact and large value parts of your business, if you need to invest in getting a designer to help you achieve the best outcome, do so. Designers are skilled in being able to develop to a brief. Choosing an image from a database of pre-formed templates isn’t always going to achieve your complete objectives.
I think that this is going to serve many as one of those life lessons – stay focussed on what you’re good at and truly needed for and then seek out assistance from elsewhere for others. You will find that it’s a much more productive use of your businesses most valuable resource…YOU!
Good Luck!
The Marketing Elf
©September 2021
The Marketing Elf 